Cork City, Co Cork

The Cork Vision Centre is a unique exhibition space that’s worth visiting just for a chance to appreciate the venue, alone. It hosts a regular line-up of events throughout the year, and availability depends a great deal on when you visit. Pricing for individual exhibitions and events vary, but the centre itself is free to explore from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm from Tuesday to Saturday.

The Vision Centre is located within St Peter’s Church on Main Street. The church was decommissioned, and it now serves as gallery and exhibition space for the city of Cork. With this in mind, it is situated at the heart of historic Cork City, within walking distance of many key attractions, art galleries and historic sites.

The Vision Centre is also working to restore St Peter’s. The building dates back to the 13th century, when King Henry III conveyed patronage of the church to the Bishop of Cork. The church went out of use in 1949 and remained in a state of disrepair until 1988, when the City Council launched a restoration project and opened reopened the church as a cultural facility. In the decades since, the centre has won several awards – both nationally and abroad. Downloadable guided tours (audio and text) of St Peter’s architecture are available.

One unexpected highlight of the exhibition space is a large model of Cork city. This model helps put the river Lee in its proper context, so that you can see how it frames the downtown district.

Connect with the Cork Vision Centre on Facebook to stay up to date on the latest events and exhibitions being hosted.